Crumble to Dust
by EightEminus
Summary: DCI Alex Hunt is both a widow and the most senior woman in the Met. New evidence shines light on the same case that killed Gene, but this throws up questions: Who is working for the League? What is meant by untold misery? And is Gene really dead?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Ashes to Ashes. The fact that it is no longer on TV is not one I'm especially happy with, but what can you do?**

**Cardoxymide doesn't exist in the real world.**

**This is probably set around 1983/1984, having disregarded series 2 (not that there was anything wrong with it, it just doesn't fit). I hope you like it.**

"DCI Hunt?"

Alex gritted her teeth, before replacing it with a polite smile. She hated that name, she hated herself every time she responded to it, as though she was insulting his memory. Still what could she do? It was her name after all.

"Yes Viv?" she said pleasantly, all though inside she felt terrible.

"The letter from the hospital, Ma'am. Labs did their tests, it's clean. No fingerprints either."

Alex carried on smiling the same deliberate everything-is-fine smile that she had been practicing for the past six months, took the letter and hurried to CID.

She burst though the double doors and noticed again how people looked up expectantly before looking away again. Not everyone was good at hiding their disappointment. Alex fought back tears as she made her way to what was now her office.

_I miss him too,_ she wanted to scream.

Inside her office, she studied the letter. It was the same as the others that the Department of Health and Fenchurch Maternity Unit had received, all though this was the first one in many months. All though the case was still ongoing- Alex for one wouldn't rest until it was solved- they thought the League had broken. Unfortunately it seemed it was not the case.

_End prescriptions of the evil drug now. Failure to do so will result in untold misery- AL_

Alex sighed and put the letter on the desk. Of course the League hadn't broken up, Cardoxymide was still legal- just- as was still being prescribed to pregnant women and the League were still twisted and blind enough to think this was a problem.

Alex massaged her temples with the tips of her fingers and stood up to open her door, taking the letter with her and approaching DI Carling. She thrust the letter under his nose. Chris saw this and wondered over.

"A photocopy, Ma'am?" asked Ray, looking quizzically up at her before he remembered. Still Alex reminded him.

"The Department of Health got the original. No pathogens, no fingerprints, nothing, just a warning," she said, taking the letter back and passing it to Shaz, "Shaz, could you make some copies of this for our files?"

"Yes Ma'am," said DC Granger. Everyone had moved up a rank since…

"What does it mean by 'untold misery'?" said Chris frowning.

"I don't know," said Alex thoughtfully, "They haven't given us a deadline either. That probably means there'll be another letter."

"So we might get more clues then?" said Ray, exhaling smoke.

"We shouldn't depend on it," said Alex looking aimlessly until her eyes came to rest on her door.

Ray looked nervously between Hunt and the office door. He knew that look on her face. It was a diluted expression from the one he had seen six months ago after she had woken up but he knew that the emotions were still raw inside her. The pain, the guilt, the feeling that she was living in somebody's shadow. And it wasn't that she wanted to escape the shadow, quite the opposite.

And it was all there on the office door. DCI Alex Hunt. _Gene_ had been removed and replaced with his widow's name and so every time someone happened to glance at it, they knew something was wrong. And every time the Ma'am looked at her own damn name on her own damn door, it was as though she had lost him all over again.

XXX

The fair haired man looked up as the door opened. In walked a man with a plate of some unidentifiable meat covered in watery gravy and some cutlery. His placed it on the floor and lay a cigarette beside it before sitting on a hard wooden chair and lighting his own.

"You don't mind do you?"

The fair haired man shook his head but said nothing. He stared at the food but didn't make any movement towards it, staying where he was on his bare mattress leaning against the wall.

"Eat up then," said the man on the chair cheerfully then caught the expression on the other man's face. Fear and hatred, all mixed together. Jesus, the guy was scared. Brave as a frigging lion according to legend, but that couldn't hide every fear and right now they were all there, dancing across his eyes for a split second till he looked down again.

"I haven't poisoned it you know," said the man on the chair kindly, "Honest. If we wanted to kill you we'd have done it by now. Even if we decided to kill you now, we wouldn't waste time by poisoning you-" the fair man looked up scornfully- "we'd just put a bullet in you."

"I thought bullets weren't your thing."

The man on the chair laughed. "They aren't generally. But they are effective, even the League knows that."

The fair haired man leaned forward and picked up the knife and fork to carefully cut into the steak and place the meat in his mouth. It was cold and overcooked and the gravy was too watery to have any taste but he was hungry.

Within a few minutes, the plate was clean. The man on the mattress picked up the cigarette and looked hopefully at the man on the chair.

"Would you like a light, Hunt?"

"Please," he replied.


	2. Cardoxymide

**Thank you for your reviews for the first chapter! Here's the second, with a little bit of plot and a little of what happened to Gene…**

There were things Alex did after Gene died. Little rituals, little rules that she obeyed as though they might bring Gene back. She never slept in the bed in her flat any more- their bed. She took the sofa instead. Half of the bed still smelled of whisky and vanilla and she didn't want to overpower it with her perfume or ever have to wash the sheets. If she was ever having a bad day, she would kneel beside his half of the bed, move her face as close to the pillow as she dared and inhale. It was like he was there with her.

She didn't call in people into her office the way Gene had done when it was his, choosing instead to approach people at their desks when she wanted them. When anybody needed her, she would get up from her desk and talk to them at the door. She hated using the office and felt uncomfortable in replacing him in his job. She missed him so much.

XXX

There was an excited knocking on the door of Alex's office. She looked up in surprise. It had been months since anyone in CID had generated any enthusiasm over anything.

It was Ray, a sort of desperate excitement glowing in his eyes. He pushed open the door and stood in the doorway.

"Health department," he breathed, indicating the phone on Alex's desk. Her eyes widened as she grappled for the phone.

Ray closed the door and sat back down at his desk, but he kept looking up through the vertical blinds of the office at DCI Hunt as she listened through the receiver and jotted in a notebook. He looked away and caught Chris' eye. This would be it. If the Department of Health had received more information, then that was a breakthrough.

Finally Alex hung up and opened the door. She stood in the doorway, tall and imposing, like the Guv had half a year ago. Her mouth was set in a grim line but her eyes were sparkling.

"Five months."

"Similar letters, Ma'am?" Ray asked.

"Yes. Same type of paper so far as they can tell, no fingerprints, no biohazards inside. 'Five months, AL' was all it said."

"So they didn't say what they meant by 'untold misery'? Or give an exact date?" said Shaz.

"No," said Alex, walking up to the whiteboard behind her old desk. She took a red marker pen and wrote on the board the deadline.

"Shall we review the case?" she asked rhetorically, but she was still gratified to hear a few people murmur their assent. She pointed to the centre of the board to two red letters. For months they had seemed to follow her around CID. They were the reason she was a widow.

"AL. Animal League. Scum," said Ray, not bothering to hide his disgust.

"They're a terrorist group believed to be based in London," said Shaz, as though she had swallowed a file. "Founded about two years ago by Robert Langley in order to stop animal testing for any reason."

"Yeah," said Chris as Shaz paused for breath, "They started off by being a pain rather than doing any terrorism, like. Illegal protests, small riots, that sort of thing. Then they turned nasty."

"They started to use bombs. Threaten scientists, then burn up their houses. Kill whole families in the name of their cause," continued Ray, "but they stick to bombs."

"Then it all changes," said Alex gravely. Her eyes sought the next part of the story, as did everyone else's. Written in green in the top right-hand corner of the whiteboard.

Cardoxymide.

The Wonder Drug, it had been called in the papers. Some of the more excitable publications had compared the discovery of Cardoxymide as something akin to the discovery of germ theory or DNA structure.

"It's used to treat babies with conjugated…congentiful…" began Chris.

"Congenital," sighed Alex.

"Yeah, that- heart problems," he finished. "Before they're born. It works really well, no side effects or anything."

"Dead cheap to make as well," said Shaz, "but then-"

"Angela Burntwood," Ray said, exhaling a cloud of cigarette smoke. Her name was written on the whiteboard too.

"She was a scientist," Shaz said, determined not to be interrupted again, "working on developing the drug. She was due a load of money for it, once the drug was legalised. But then she got cheated out of it."

"Well not really," said Ray, ignoring Shaz's look of annoyance, "she just didn't read the small print of her contract."

"They didn't think she deserved the same cut because she was a _woman_," snapped Shaz, spitting the last word out. Alex watched her colleagues carefully. Emotions were beginning to rise already. She didn't want to have to referee a fight.

"Whatever happened," said Alex, raising her voice above Ray and Shaz's so that they stopped arguing and looked at her, "it gave Dr. Burntwood a reason to want revenge on them."

"She was a blowing whistler."

Alex stared at DS Skelton. "Whistleblower, Chris."

"She went to the Sun," said Ray, "with a load of pictures showing animals being mistreated and abused. Said she took them in the labs when they were testing Cardoxymide on them."

"The pictures were disgusting," said Shaz quietly.

Not quietly enough. Ray suddenly stood up and started shouting at her.

"That still doesn't excuse what they did! Those bastards-"

"Easy Ray," said Alex, using her 'hostage negotiator' voice. Chris had stood up as though prepared to defend Shaz, then sat down as Ray recovered himself and mumbled an apology to Shaz.

"So, the AL noticed the story," Alex went on, "they now have a specific cause rather than just general 'stop animal testing' which means they can now make demands."

"And give deadlines," muttered Chris.

"They poisoned bread sold at Sparrow's Grocers. They figured in their twisted way that some pregnant women will buy the bread, catch salmonella and that will somehow be punishment for the government allowing Cardoxymide to be prescribed," said Shaz.

"Bloody stupid," said Ray in disgust, "it's not just birds up the duff that eat that bread, its all sorts, blokes and kids too. And of the women that are pregnant, how many of them are going to be on this drug anyway?"

"Doesn't matter," said Alex pointedly and Ray felt ashamed. He hid it by taking one final drag on his cigarette and stubbing it out on the desk rather than in an ashtray.

"The bread all came from the same factory," said Shaz and Alex pointed to another word on the board, "owned by the Scott family. Forensics taken suggests that the contamination took place there."

Shaz stopped talking. She looked up at Chris, silently pleading with him to take over. Chris did so reluctantly. The worst part was coming up.

"They denied all knowledge of any bioterrorism. We can't prove they did it so we can't form a case. But then Harry Solomon, the security guard, told us that someone would pay him to not do his job properly some nights. He knows when the next night is."

Chris stopped and looked at Ray. He couldn't continue.

"So we go. All of us lie in wait at the factory," Ray said, and everyone understood what he meant by 'all', "we don't confront them there. We-"

He broke off and looked to Alex, hoping she would take over, but she wasn't even looking at him. She was bending over, supporting herself by leaning on her old desk, her eyes shut and facing the floor.

"We didn't confront them there," she whispered, "we followed them to-"

She broke off too. And the story was left unfinished because Alex physically couldn't remember the next part of the story and for the others, the memories were too painful to recall.


	3. The Quattro Part 1

**Thank you for your kind reviews! Here's the next chapter, shorter than the others but there's a reason for that. There's also a mistake in the first chapter's author's note: the fic disregards series 3. All though having said that, I don't think I reference series 2 much either. Anyway, enjoy!**

There was no grave, no urn on the mantelpiece, no park bench claiming that he had loved this place. Alex almost smiled at the thought. That's what should have happened. He should have grown old, sitting in the same spot day after day, watching the wind through the trees and sneering at the young people jogging past. And she should have sat next to him, growing old with him.

Alex went to an old garage in Fenchurch East, a street away from her flat. There was a small lock-up that she paid a crazy amount of money for every month but she didn't care. In the middle of this lock-up was a something huge. If she lay down next to it, it would be almost as long as her.

When there was no-one around, it was covered by a dirty grey sheet. Alex gripped the material and paused just for a moment. Then she lifted it up and threw it behind her.

It was as though he was there. It was as though Gene Hunt was standing in the room with her, as though he had never died. Alex always felt a strange mixture of emotions whenever she came here. Sadness, obviously, and love but also a surge of adrenaline. She knew it was a psychological association, that seductive shade of red always raised her pulse wherever she saw it. It reminded her of chasing criminals, roaring along quiet roads in hot pursuit of murderers or drug dealers or bank robbers. And it reminded her of him.

She ran her hand all the way along it, from the bonnet, along the roof to the boot. The Quattro. The beautiful, fast, loyal, fierce Quattro. So like her owner.

Finally Alex reached into her pocket and took out the keys to the car. She unlocked the passenger side and sat in that seat. She never sat in the other seat, she never drove it. She just sat in _her_ seat, closed her eyes and remembered.

A noise from the door to the lock-up made her open her eyes. Slowly, she opened the door to the Quattro and got out, squinting through the dim light.

Someone was standing at the entrance. An unmistakable silhouette: at least six feet tall, fourteen stone, broad shoulders, broad chest, short hair combed back. Alex heard the silhouette speak and felt her breath catch in her throat in a way that it hadn't for five months.

"Bolly."


	4. Crumble to Dust Part 1

**First of all, thank you very much for all your reviews. I really appreciate them.**

**Secondly, I know I left the last chapter on a cliffhanger and I know you want to find out what happened next. Thing is, I don't want to resolve it just yet. However, if you were wondering what happened to Gene, you'll find out now. Please enjoy this flashback chapter. And if the physics of what happens are a bit suspect, I'll just claim artistic licence.**

"You know technically the Scott family are innocent," said Alex as she waited by the doors that lead out of CID, "You flap around here like a bat in snakeskin boots decrying them as too evil to live, but the case got thrown out."

"You and I both know that was a travesty," said Gene as he leant against Alex's desk, checking his gun over.

"Was it though?"

"Yes, DI Hunt," said Gene, grinning at her. Alex felt a frisson of pleasure at that name, even though they'd been married for over a year now. DI Hunt had almost replaced Bolly in Gene's favourite nicknames for her, all though he would still call her Drake if she was being particularly annoying (or right, according to Alex).

"High number of cases of salmonella in Fenchurch, traced back to loaves of bread bought from the same grocer. Grocer had nothing to do with it, bread arrives completely sealed from a nearby factory owned by the Scott family. Therefore it was the Scott family what done it." Gene span the barrel of the gun and grinned at Alex.

Alex didn't grin back. "The security guard-"

Gene rolled his eyes. "Sod the security guard. He says he was paid to not be at his post for a few nights and he reckons they- whoever this mysterious 'they' are- will be there tonight. Big deal. Scott family probably paid him to say that."

"They don't have a motive."

"Nobody has a motive, Bolls."

Alex leaned heavily against the doors, sighing in frustration. "I know. It doesn't make any sense. Someone should have owned up."

"_That_ doesn't make any sense," said Gene, checking the bullets again, "Scum like that are scared they'll end up in prison, passed around like binoculars outside women's changing rooms."

"But people commit bioterrorism like this to make a point or to gain notoriety. If we don't know who did it, then who do we know who to be afraid of?" She paused then added, "Are you going to be long? Ray and Chris are waiting."

"Long as it takes Bollykecks," Gene smiled, finally putting away his gun, "You've got some cheek though. Number of times I've been waiting for you to change your dress again, re-fix your make-up…" his voice trailed away as he realised Alex wasn't smiling. Gently, he cupped her face. "I'm not afraid, Alex."

"Yes, you are," she said stubbornly.

"How did you work that out?"

"You've spent the last fifteen minutes checking your gun over again and again. Why did you do that if you don't expect any trouble?"

"Bloke's rights," Gene said. He gently kissed Alex's lips. "Let's not keep the boy wonders waiting any longer, eh?"

XXX

Of course Gene wasn't going to admit it to Alex, but he was worried. He couldn't quite explain why, just some kind of gut instinct. They had driven up to Scott's factory and the security guard wasn't there, all part of the plan. Silently they waited.

When it was nearly midnight, a large car drove up. Beside him, Alex took out the camera and tried to focus it on the car's registration plate before giving up in frustration. It was too dark and the angle was all wrong. She could barely see the plates anyway.

"Do we follow them inside, Guv?" said Ray as shadowy figures ran from the car to the factory.

Gene craned his neck. "No. If we do, we'll be seen. There are still some people inside. Can you see what they're carrying?" he asked as the figures ran back.

"Boxes," said Chris unhelpfully.

The other car started again and turned around. Gene's hands tensed over the Quattro's ignition key. He waited until the car was just out of sight before he started the engine and screeched away after them.

XXX

They followed the car to what looked like a single story house. Quietly, the four officers got out of the Quattro. Gene drew his gun and the others copied him. This was it. The showdown. Alex felt her heart rise into her mouth. She wanted to call out to Gene, to take his hand and have him hold her, stroke her hair and tell her not to be so stupid, this was all going to go fine, she had nothing to worry about. She briefly closed her eyes and pretended that he had. It didn't help.

They advanced on the house. At the door, Gene looked back as if to say, "Right, team, this is it," then kicked down the door.

The first room was empty, but the door was open and the sound must have travelled. Four doors led from this room, two on the left, one on the right and one straight ahead. One door each.

Ray and Chris took the doors leading to the left and Gene went straight ahead. Alex opened the door to the right and found herself in a very large kitchen. An ominous clicking noise echoed its way across the dark room to her ears. She gripped her gun tightly.

The clicking was coming from a clock at the far end of the room. Alex ignored it, looking instead at her surroundings. She had got the goldmine. This was the room they wanted.

She took out her radio to summon the others but the words died on her lips as she looked at the clock again. The clock was fixed by wires to explosive material- a bomb. The second hand seemed to speed round- she had less than half a minute.

Alex ran across the room, screaming into her radio. _"Bomb in East room evacuate! It's about to explode, get the hell out!"_

She got to the door. It was jammed. Alex tried unsuccessfully not to panic as she through her body against the door. It refused to move.

Ray and Chris heard Alex's voice on their radios and ran out of their respective rooms on the left hand side and outside. They looked at each other.

"Where are they? Why's Drake not out?" asked Chris forgetting, in his panic, a wedding.

"The Guv-" said Ray moving back to the house.

The bomb exploded. The bomb had been pathetically small, but the explosion hadn't been the point. All though it was big enough to blow a hole in the side of the house, the real danger lay in the fire started. It quickly engulfed the room.

Ray and Chris shrank back as part of the house just melted away and the rest of it caught fire. Ray grabbed Chris' arm.

"She was in that room!"

They ran back inside, choking in the poisonous fumes. To their surprise, most of the house was still standing. It had only been Alex's room that was destroyed- and even then it couldn't have been all of the room since the wall and door was still intact…

The door. How was it locked?

Together, Ray and Chris smashed it down and heaved Alex's limp body outside onto the grass. Behind them the flames spread to the other rooms, spitting sparks into the night sky. The house was no longer stable as bits of the house began to fall until it grew so unsteady that whole walls collapsed and burned and crumbled to dust.

Alex's eyes flickered.

"Gene," she coughed, "Where's Gene?"

Chris looked around hopelessly at the surrounding area as Alex's eyes closed again, as though she already knew the answer.

The Guv wasn't there.


	5. The Quattro Part 2

**Thank you all very much for your reviews, I'm sorry I wasn't able to respond to them each in turn, hopefully I might be able to this week. I felt so guilty about not resolving the cliffhanger straight away that I thought you might want to read this and fid out what happened next…**

"Bolly."

Alex didn't move. She stayed stock still next to the Quattro with one hand resting on it, as though she was trying to calm it down.

"Step in to the light," she ordered.

The silhouette obeyed, taking forward one step so that it would be illuminated by a ray of moonlight shining through a gap in the roof. It was extraordinary. Every detail was perfect, from the stubble on his chin to silvery-green of his eyes. Even each dimension of his pout was accurate.

Alex walked slowly up to him as though he was a rare animal that could take a fright to her and disappear. Cautiously, she extended a hand and held it an inch from his cheek. He closed his eyes in anticipation of her touch, but it never came. She dropped her hand.

"Incredible," Alex whispered, gazing into his eyes, "Everything is exactly as I remember. Since I can't grieve effectively, my mind has taken my grief and fashioned a hallucination out of it. I don't want to let go, so it created a construct, albeit a construct with extraordinary detail."

"Bloody hell, Bolls, you haven't changed have you?" said the construct but there was no humour in his voice. In fact, there was a crack in it, as though he was on the verge of tears. Alex began to doubt, even more so when the construct reached out and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.

Could she really recreate that so perfectly? The coolness and smoothness of his leather glove and it brushed against her warm cheek and behind her ear. Her heart rate increased. All her reactions were real, so could he be?

"But you're dead, Gene," she said, a tear running down her cheek, "You were caught in a fire, the house collapsed and you never made it out."

"Yes, I did," Gene breathed, not moving his hand from her face, so Alex moved her face from his hand. She glared at him in fury.

"How can you be alive? Don't you know how many nights I've spent weeping over you? How I struggle to get through each day without you? If you've been alive all this time, why didn't you come back sooner?"

"I couldn't," Gene whispered, "Those bastards from the League were there, in the room I went into. They slapped something over my face. I watched as they took me out through a back door and bundled me into a car."

"What do you mean, you watched?" asked Alex, curious despite herself.

"From above. Like I was a ghost or something."

"Chloroform," said Alex quietly, "Did they hurt you?"

"No," Gene said quickly- too quickly, but Alex would let it pass for now.

"Just because you're saying all this stuff, it doesn't mean you're real. My mind is just inventing things for you to say to justify your existence."

"All right, I'll prove it then," said Gene and for the first time, his eyes slid away from Alex's and landed on the Quattro behind her. Give me the keys."

Alex turned her head to look at the Quattro. She hesitated.

"Give me the keys, Bolly."

Finally, Alex reached into her pocket and withdrew the keys. A frisson of electricity seemed to jump from Gene's hand to hers as she put it in his hand. Was that real?

They both got into the Quattro. Gene started the engine and switched on the headlamps, throwing light into every dark corner of the lock-up. The dingy space suddenly looked beautiful.

They pulled out of the lock-up. Gene sped the thing down empty roads, going as fast as he damn well pleased. Alex didn't tell him to slow down, on the contrary, she was having the time of her life. Any high speed chase she had been witness to before paled into insignificance now. The way it swerved round corners and accelerated down straights was brilliant. It was as though the Quattro had been grieving, same as Alex, but it now had its master back and was rejoicing.

Eventually, Gene slowed the Quattro down, pulling up outside Luigi's.

"'Ow many hallucinations," he said, "do you know that can do that?"

A huge smile slowly spread across Alex's face. "It's you. It's really you."

There was a silence as they just looked at each other, drinking each other in. Then Alex broke it.

"Who did you miss more," she said teasingly, "Me or the Quattro?"

Gene gave a small smile and leaned his face close to Alex's. "Too close to call," he said back just as teasingly before closing the gap between them.

Alex sighed as she felt his lips melt into hers.


	6. The Morning After

**Thank you all for your reviews! They really make my day.**

**I found out that Monastic are thinking of releasing a series of novels about Gene and co that bridge the gap between Life on Mars and Ashes. For more information, and a link to a petition where you can register your interest, copy and paste this link into your url: .com/television/694486/lets_get_gene_hunt_in_**

At first Alex didn't understand why her bed was warmer than normal, why she was happier than usual when she woke up or why she was even in her bed at all. Then she turned her head and felt her heart explode with love.

More than half of Gene's face was covered by the pillow but she could still make out the lines in his forehead, the outermost corners of his mouth and creases around his eyes as he frowned in his sleep. She shifted as gently as she could so that she was comfortable to watch him for a bit but she jolted the bed so much that Gene awoke slightly, mumbled something incoherent and threw a massive arm over her in a sleepy gesture of affection. Then he suddenly snapped awake properly and gazed at Alex.

"I didn't dream it," she whispered, but there was humour in her eyes now, something that wasn't there last night. The unexpected sadness and doubt of their reunion had evaporated, now she would only ever be overjoyed to see him.

"Apparently not," said Gene, bending down to kiss her. Alex took his kiss, then swung her bare legs over the edge of the bed and sat up. Gene pushed her back down again. Alex tried to feebly swat him away but gave up when he kissed her again.

"And where," he growled, causing Alex's heart to flutter, "do you think you're going?"

"Work," Alex said as she got out of bed and opened her drawer for her underwear. She had pulled on her underwear and was searching through her wardrobe when she realised that Gene hadn't said anything in return to that. She spun around.

"Fenchurch East," he breathed and Alex nodded mutely. Was this about to be a source of tension? "You got made DCI."

"You weren't there," said Alex, trying not to sound accusing but she failed since Gene shot back with-

"I didn't choose to leave you!"

"I know!" Alex cried, throwing herself onto the bed, in front of Gene, "That wasn't what I meant, I meant that we- they- thought you were dead and they needed a DCI and I was a DI and…" her voice trailed away as she looked away from Gene. She supposed that this was how they would always be, always fighting, as usual. She had just hoped that their first fight wouldn't be this soon.

Alex looked back at Gene to find him smiling. "Yeah, when I was… you know… away, I wondered if that might happen. I hoped it would. I'd rather have you in charge of that lot than some shiny-shoed idiot with an A-level in General Twattery in my office- my old office, I should say."

"Oh," said Alex, taken aback by the complete absence of any anger, "But what are you going to do now?"

"Dunno. See if there are any DCI vacancies going in another district."

"But what about now? As in right this minute?"

"I can think of a few things," said Gene kissing her. Alex had missed him so much, that she let the kiss happen before interrupting him. Before, when she thought that they would both live forever, and have forever to kiss him in, she wouldn't have let his lips reach hers before talking.

"You could come in with me."

"Come inside you? If you insist Bolls," he said. Alex squealed and felt his lips turn up as he pressed them against hers.

"That's not what I meant," she gasped coming up for air.

"I know what you meant," said Gene, suddenly serious, "Won't I get in your way?"

"Probably," Alex said smiling, but Gene didn't smile back, so she sighed, "I missed you in so many ways, Gene. I missed you as a husband, you lying next to me, holding me, kissing me. I missed you driving the Quattro and how you make me laugh at things I know I shouldn't. I-" her voice broke and she had to look away from him, "I missed you as a colleague too. Seeing you every day, solving cases with you, fighting with you, the look on your face when you admit I was right all along-"

"Carry on missing those days, Bolly," said Gene, finally cracking a smile. "How would this work anyway? Am I there on a strictly voluntary basis or what?"

"Whatever you like," Alex replied, "Voluntary, helping with out with our investigations, paid full time, part time, whatever."

"Whatever what?" said Gene, half-jokingly, half thoughtfully.

When Alex replied, she was completely serious.

"The League is still active."

Gene didn't say anything straight away. His face was expressionless and Alex wondered what had happened to him. As she scanned her eyes over his form, there was nothing to suggest that he had been physically mistreated in anyway. There were no bruises, no scars. No bones had been broken. He had lost weight but he didn't seem malnourished.

Psychological scars were harder to spot and Alex could feel herself flitting between being Alex Hunt, his wife, and concerned about his well being, and Alex Drake, police psychologist, wanting to set Gene a series of psychological tests, to counsel him.

Already she could tell something was different. They hadn't even been together twenty-four hours and she noticed changes in him. Nothing huge, just sometimes when he looked at her, he looked through her. Sometimes she tried to catch his eye but he couldn't feel her eyes on him so didn't turn around. She was sure that before he always knew when she was looking at him. Alex wondered if maybe the problem was with her, during her brief widowhood she had romanticised him and had forgotten things she didn't want to remember.

"What do you know? Gene, if they told you anything, if you heard anything…"

"I didn't," Gene snapped and Alex flinched. There it was. A scar, and she had prodded it, causing him pain. She put her hand on his.

"Gene, I have to know what happened to you."

Beneath her hand, Gene's fist clenched. She took her hand away but Gene's fist stayed, forming little white marks on the knuckles. Alex watched fascinated as he slowly relaxed it and turned the palm up. Alex placed her hand there, palm to palm.

"I can't tell you anything- Alex I can't," he said as Alex opened her mouth to protest, "I didn't find out a lot about them, I was a small fish in a hell of a big pond and I could get anyone to let any cats out of any bags, but some things I might be able to help you with. There may be some gaps I can fill."

"That's something else I missed about you, your atrocious mixing of metaphors." Alex moved her hand away and reluctantly heaved herself off the bed. "Get dressed," she said, "and step into your office again."


	7. Two Cups of Tea

**Some people mentioned that the link in the last chapter was incomplete- I think FF might have a block on putting links in chapters. So, for anyone still interested, go to Google, search for 'Den of Geek' and click on 'Let's Get Gene Hunt in Print'- should be a small button on the right side of the page. Or, there is a link on my profile.**

**Thanks, as always for your kind reviews. I know from the reviews that people have been looking forward to this chapter- CID finding out- so I hope it doesn't disappoint. As you'll be able to tell, the emotions here will ripple through the rest of the fic…**

They looked up again, as Alex burst through the double doors of CID, but they didn't look away again this time. Her eyes were shining, her lips were upturned and her cheeks were flushed pink. She was happy, genuinely full of joy. What was going on?

"Don't all die from heart attacks," she began, which didn't really put her team at ease and furthermore made no sense, "but…"

"What is it, Ma'am?" Shaz asked.

"He's back," Alex whispered. Her team looked back at her confused. "Gene. He's here."

Most of the people present just looked at Alex in further confusion. Shaz however stood up and made to walk over to Alex, pity written all over her face. Alex noticed this and threw up her hands to stop Shaz.

"I'm not mad! I'll prove it!"

She turned and shouted Gene's name at an empty corridor.

She had dreamed it. She was going mad, unable to tell the difference between fiction and reality, unable to accept her bereavement. Then-

"Here Bolly."

She tuned to look _up_ the corridor instead of down and saw Gene kneeling next to an unconscious Viv.

"He's OK," Gene replied to Alex's unasked question as he stood up, "He just got a bit of a shock that's all." Alex held out her hand and Gene took it. Together they pushed open the doors.

There was silence. No one spoke, the taps from Shaz's typewriter ceased. Alex was pretty sure no one was breathing. All eyes were on Gene. She tried frantically to read their expressions but there was nothing there. No anger, no joy, not even confusion. Maybe this hadn't been such a good idea.

"You all look like you've seen a ghost," Gene joked but Alex could tell by the sudden tightening of his hand on hers that he didn't feel as blasé as he sounded. She squeezed back reassuringly.

"Mary, mother of God," said Shaz, the first of any of them to say anything.

"Not me, Shaz. Do I look like a pregnant virgin teenager to you?" Gene quipped and small smiles cracked across the faces of Ray and Chris. Shaz's face remained impassive.

"Tell them what happened," Alex murmured and the smiles vanished. The atmosphere was tense again.

"I got out," said Gene, addressing the room. "They were there, in that house, in the room I went into. They chloroformed me, tied me up and put me in a car. I was out of range when the bomb…"

The sentence went unfinished and he pulled his hand out of Alex's. Chris stood up and held out his hand.

"Guv," he whispered in awe and Gene accepted the handshake before pulling Chris into a hug. He worked his way around his colleagues, most of them shocked into silence to really speak to him, all though Ray grinned widely, before smothering his emotions to look more manly.

"I can't believe it's you. Welcome back Guv,"

"Cheers, Raymondo."

"Missed you. I mean-" Ray stuttered as Gene raised his eyebrows and Alex stifled a laugh, "_We_ missed you. Place wasn't the same without you. In a professional way, obviously. We needed you to take control."

Alex now raised her eyebrows. Ray noticed.

"Not that you don't do a great job, Ma'am."

Chris looked confused. Ray elaborated, "For a woman, I mean."

Ray noticed Shaz was frowning and he decided he'd dug his hole deep enough and sat down, smiling weakly at Gene, who had turned his attention to the last member of the group.

Shaz was angry. Alone of all the officers in room, with the possible exception of Gene, she really understood how Alex had felt the past six months, separated from Gene, believing him dead. She listened to Alex as she ranted about her guilt for not crying and put an arm around her when she was finally ready to weep. She narrowed her eyes at Gene, this was all _his_ fault, he had made Alex like that.

Then, for second, Shaz slid her eyes from Gene and across the room to where Alex was, still by the door. She saw pure happiness in every atom of Alex's being and felt her anger become squashed by it.

Shaz smiled as she was embraced by Gene. She was overjoyed to see him but could still feel a small pool of fury deep within her. She hadn't forgiven him completely yet, but as long as the Ma'am was happy, she could quell her rage.

As Gene went into Alex's office and Alex busied herself in the small kitchen, the others began talking.

"I think it's brilliant," said Ray, a manic grin twisting his features into something almost beautiful.

"Where d'you think he's been?" Chris asked.

"Dunno, but wherever it was, it wasn't through choice."

"You reckon?" said Shaz carefully.

"'Course," Ray snorted, as though it was obvious. "I mean, he's married to Drake. Would you be voluntarily away from a piece of skirt like that? I mean-" he blushed suddenly and Shaz giggled, despite herself. "Shut up, Granger. Even you think she's tasty."

XXX

Gene was quiet as he looked around his office, correction, Alex's office. He slowly reached and stroked a single finger across the width of the top of the filing cabinet without realising what he was doing. On the cabinet was a black cloth folded open, a picture of him, a tea light and a single white rose in the foreground. He pinched the petals. It was barely a day old.

The notice board with the articles and obituaries for Sam Tyler was still there but next to it was a new board dedicated to him, Gene Hunt.

He didn't read any of the cuttings on the board. He tried not to think about how Alex must have been feeling as she searched the papers for anything mentioning his name and her scissoring neatly around each article. Instead he walked behind her desk.

Her desk was neater than his had ever been. The huge, useless computer still stood in one corner of the desk but the random bits of paper and reports that had littered the desk when it had been his were gone. The only thing on the desk, save the computer and telephone, was a photo frame, containing a picture of them both. Alex was wearing a beautiful white dress, holding a bouquet of roses and was laughing at the camera. Gene had his arm around her waist and was ignoring the camera completely, choosing to smile at his wife instead.

Gene quickly stopped wiping his eyes just as the door opened. Alex stepped in carrying two cups of tea. Gene took his and sipped. She still remembered it was six sugars.

"Gene," Alex said, and Gene felt his heart drop. He knew that voice. It was Alex's 'we need to talk' voice.

"Bolly," he said, hoping that her nickname would placate her, "I don't know anything. They kept me locked in a room. No one said anything around me."

"Did they hurt you?" Alex asked, "I don't mean physically necessarily. Did they deprive you of sleep or food, humiliate you in any way-"

"No," said Gene, wincing. "Do you mean… no, no they didn't humiliate me. I wasn't physically hurt either."

"How did you get away?"

"I don't know," Gene replied, "Honest, I didn't. I fell asleep one night, next thing I know, I'm lying in the gutter three streets away from the lock-up, four streets away from our place. I'm on my way to our flat and I hear movement from the lock-up. It's you and I go in."

There was a look on Alex's face that Gene didn't like, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was that made him so uneasy. An uncomfortable silence span between them. Gene frantically racked his brains for something to say.

Alex said, "They kidnapped you, held you prisoner then let you go. Why?"

"I don't know," said Gene, feeling pathetic.

"Did they know you were a cop? They must've done, surely?"

"Yeah, why else would I have been in that house?"

Alex took a final gulp of tea then placed the empty mug on her desk. Gene hadn't touched his since the first sip.

"We received a message from the League," said Alex, "It threatened 'untold misery'. Do you have any idea what they mean?"

"No," said Gene, "No I don't."

"Gene, please."

Gene put his mug of cold tea down next to Alex's and gently took her by the shoulders. "If I knew anything, I'd tell you," he said, his silver eyes burning into her hazel ones, "I swear, I'd tell you." Alex closed her eyes and tipped her head forward and Gene pressed his lips to the top of her head, inhaling as he did so.


	8. Congenital Rubella Syndrome

**Thank you for your reviews! Right, we've had our fun with OMG Gene's back, so now we need to get back to the plot. Also, the end of this chapter is a VERY IMPORTANT PLOT POINT. Just sayin'.**

Chris quickly dropped the end of his cigarette on the ground and crushed it beneath the heel of his shoe. As he sucked his singed fingertips, he saw a movement in the shadows of the alleyway. Cautiously, he approached the movement, carefully keeping his gun concealed.

"I'm Chris Skelton," he said as he approached the shadowy figure. Gently, he pulled his warrant card from his jacket pocket to prove it.

"You know they'll kill me, don't you?" whispered the figure.

"They won't know you've spoken to us. Just tell us what you know and we'll protect you," said Chris, trying not to smile as he thought of how proud the Ma'am would be if she could hear him.

"The note you have and the warning at the end."

"Untold misery, yep."

The figure paused and looked around in fear. "If I'm seen talking to you-"

"What do they mean?" Chris asked, a note of urgency coming into his voice. "What's this 'untold misery'? When is it going to happen?"

"I don't know when," the figure hissed from the corner of his mouth, "but I know what it is. It is a bioterror attack."

"What path… patha…" Chris stopped and focussed. People were depending on him. "What pathogen?"

"German measles. They are preparing a release of germs."

"How do you know?"

"They've been testing different mechanisms of release. I have, with them."

"Where will they release it?"

"I don't know."

Chris raised his eyebrows in what he hoped was a threatening manner. He was shit at this. He wished Ray was there, he was much better at getting information out of snouts, information that they didn't even know they had. Course, the best man for this job would be the Guv but he was d-

Wait. The Guv was alive. He wasn't here because he was reviewing evidence for the case with Ray and Alex but he was still around. He wasn't dead anymore. It was strange how even though over a month had passed, the realisation still took him by surprise.

A slow smile spread across Chris' face, which looked more threatening than the eyebrows ever could have done, in the mind of the snout since he said in a hurry, "I can find out. I don't know, they haven't told me, but I can find out."

"By when?"

"Give me two weeks. In two weeks time I will tell you everything you need to know."

"We'll meet back here in two weeks," Chris agreed, "I may not be alone though."

The snout stopped at this and looked worried so Chris added, "It's OK, they're like me. Officers tryin' to work out what's going on. If you help us, we'll help you. I promise."

XXX

"Rubella," said Alex, writing the word on the whiteboard in neat red pen, "Also known as German measles. Airborne virus, causes symptoms similar to flu. It has an incubation period of two to three weeks."

"If rubella only causes flu," said Ray, from his chair in front of the whiteboard, "then why are the League bothering with it? Doesn't seem that terrifying, especially compared to the salmonella they used before."

"It fits," said Alex quietly, "It fits perfectly with their psychology, better than salmonella."

"How did I know psychology was going to come into this?" Gene muttered.

"If a woman catches rubella early enough in pregnancy it can cause spontaneous abortion. A miscarriage, Chris," said Alex as she noticed Chris' puzzled expression, "If the pregnancy makes it to full term and the child is born, it may have congenital rubella syndrome. This could lead to deafness, blindness, congenital heart disease and more."

"They're punishing both the mothers and the children," said Shaz, "They're blaming them for the way the animals were treated and for taking Cardoxymide."

"But how serious is the risk?" Gene asked, "Most of those women have had the MMR jab-"

"Don't bet your life on it," Alex said bitterly, "I haven't. My parents were anti-government and disagreed with mass-vaccination by the state so I never got it. In 1998, Andrew Wakefield will claim that the vaccine causes autism, but it's still the eighties, so that's not really relevant."

Alex sighed wearily over the whiteboard, oblivious to the funny looks her team were giving each other. She turned around.

"This isn't enough. We need more information."

XXX

"Bolls? Bolls. Are you coming to see this snout or what?"

Alex put her pen down, slowly. The snout hadn't made contact in two weeks but Chris was confident that he had the information they wanted, he was just too scared to tell them. As he pointed out to Ray, the way they left things was to meet up in person. He also pointed out that the snout had been terrified last time they met and was probably too scared to call the station.

"I can't Gene. I told you."

"You told me, yeah. You didn't tell me why."

Alex hesitated. "What if he's there?"

"That's sort of the point, Alex."

"He's been testing rubella. What if he has it?" 

"So what if he has?" said Gene, trying not to let his impatience show. "You said that it causes flu-like symptoms in most people. If I can give gangsters nightmares, then I can sure as hell scare flu into submission, an' that goes for you an' all, Bolls."

Gene opened the office door and sighed as he noticed that Alex hadn't moved from behind her desk.

"What else did I tell you about rubella, Gene?"

The office door slammed shut. Gene's eyes widened. Finally he got it.

"It's very dangerous for pregnant women."


	9. Sign in the Universe

**Thank you all for your reviews! So… how did Gene react?**

"He's there," said Chris as he, Ray and Gene entered the tunnel where they would be meeting the snout.

Ray squinted into the shadows. "If you say so mate."

"You two should stay here for a bit, let me make first contact," said Chris then he remembered himself and turned to face Gene in a blind panic. "Not that I'm telling you what to do Guv or nothin' just-"

"Relax, Skelton, just do your job," Gene said, giving Chris a push forward so he wouldn't see the expression that was fighting its way across Gene's face.

XXX

"_So you're- you're…"_

"_Yes."_

XXX

Chris walked forward and smiled as he approached the snout. DCI Hunt- the other one, Mrs. DCI Hunt- had told him to do that, it would help the snout to relax. It didn't seem to work though. The snout looked, if anything, more terrified than before, staring at Gene with wide, fearful eyes. Chris didn't blame him, the Guv was pretty scary.

XXX

"_When did you find out?"_

"_This morning. I was going to tell you today, but there just wasn't an opportunity."_

XXX

"Want one?" said Chris, holding out a box of fags.

"Ta," said the snout, placing a cigarette in his mouth and lighting it with his own lighter. He lit Chris' too.

"You didn't call back," said Chris trying not to sound like a clingy girlfriend.

XXX

"_Gene?"_

XXX

"Yeah, I'm sorry. I figured since we arranged to meet here, we should."

"What did you tell 'em?"

"Daughter's birthday. Sad thing is, it is an' all. I can't stay long."

"That's OK. Wait though, I need to call my colleagues over." Chris signalled to Gene and Ray.

XXX

"_Gene?"_

XXX

Gene and Ray walked over. The snout squeaked with fright and Gene glared back. "What is it?" he barked in such a way that if Alex had been there, she would have rolled her eyes and muttered something unintelligible to anyone but Gene.

XXX

"_Gene, say something."_

"_I dunno what to say, Bolly."_

"_You're calling me Bolly, that's a good sign."_

_Gene looked at her, suddenly angry._

XXX

"What's the hit? When's the hit?"

The snout chewed his lip for a moment before replying. "A week from now. The hit is the Oliver Wilson Maternity Unit."

"How are they doing it?" Ray asked, "Is it a bomb or contaminated needles or what?"

"I don't know," said the snout quickly, too quickly for Ray's liking. He looked to Gene for the orders to knee the guy in the balls, but Gene seemed satisfied. Or distracted.

XXX

"_What do you mean, 'that's a good sign'?"_

_Alex didn't reply. There was a lump at the top of her throat and she wasn't sure she could._

"_My wife is having our baby. That's a better sign than any sign in the universe."_

_Alex felt the lump dissolve and her heart swell._

"_I thought you were angry."_

_Gene looked ashamed._

"_I wasn't, you daft mare. I was just surprised, that's all."_

_Alex laughed as she got up from behind her desk to envelope Gene in a hug._

"_As if I could ever be angry at you," he said, the sarcastic effect ruined by the warm affection in his voice._

XXX

Gene gave the snout a fiver and turned to leave.

"That would've been ten if you'd told us how!" snapped Ray, looking to Gene for approval but Gene was already walking off, his back straight, chin up and hands in his pockets. Ray was sure that Gene would've been whistling had it not been such a poofy thing to do.

XXX

_Alex lifted her face up to Gene's and he kissed her for was probably the thousandth time since he had returned, then span around to deal with Chris' snout. Just before the double doors to CID slammed shut, Alex heard his voice echo back towards her:_

"_I love you, by the way, Bolls."_

XXX

"Long time no see!" Ray exclaimed, jumping up and giving Alex his seat at the bar.

"For goodness' sake Ray, you saw me earlier today at work," said Alex, eyeing the recently vacated seat with suspicion, before taking it. Ray shoved Chris off his chair (which happened to be next to a very voluptuous blonde) and took that instead. Ah, that was the reason his chivalry.

"Doesn't count," said Ray as Chris inched hopefully round to the stool between Alex and Shaz but was beaten to it by Gene, "We haven't seen you in here for yonks. Luigi's forgotten what you look like."

"I was here on Monday!"

"So?"

"It's only Friday!"

"I think the point Raymondo is trying to make," said Gene, propping his chin up on the hand furthest from Alex and turning slightly to face her, "is that Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, you were AWOL."

"I wouldn't quite call it AWOL, would you Gene?" said Alex, a glint in her eye that said, _ you know damn well why I haven't been at Luigi's and I'm only here to stop you- and the others- from pestering me!_

"Whose round is it?" said Gene quickly and just at that moment, Chris had finished heaving a stool from the other side of Luigi's to a small gap between Shaz and Gene, placed himself upon it and looked up smiling triumphantly… and caught Gene's eye.

"Mine's a pint, please Chris," Gene smirked.

"Same for me, cheers Chris," Ray grinned, relieved that Gene hadn't caught _his_ eye.

"White wine, Chris," said Shaz, before taking pity on the look of horror on his face. She lent in and whispered, "Don't worry baby, I'll help you out."

Chris looked a little happier and glanced at Alex. "What about you, Ma'am?"

Gene's smirk grew wider. Alex chewed her lip and sighed, "Just an orange juice, thanks."

There was a deathly silence.

"With vodka?" said Chris, completely bemused. Gene let out a short guffaw.

"No, just- just the juice," said Alex, smiling as though it was no big deal, "just don't fancy drinking that's all."

A metaphorical lightbulb exploded into a luminance above Shaz's head. She gave a squeal of delight and launched herself off her chair and threw her arms around Alex.

"Oh my God! You're- wait," she removed her arms and stared at Alex with wide eyes. "You are, aren't you? Or did I just jump to the wrong conclusion?"

"What conclusion?" said Chris.

"No, you got it right. And thanks," Alex added as Shaz hugged her and gave her congratulations to both her and Gene. Ray bellowed for champagne and asked for it to be put on his tab before grinning at Gene and Alex.

"Congratulations, Ma'am. And well done, Guv. Good to see you've got it in you," he said.

Chris' eyebrows shot up as Shaz whispered what had happened in his ear. Shaz laughed at the expression on his face.

"I supposed we should have known," she said, "It explains why the Ma'am was skipping Luigi's and why the Guv has stopped smoking."

"What?" exclaimed Chris, his brow furrowed in confusion, "Is the Guv pregnant too?"

XXX

It seemed inevitable, Alex thought bitterly as she slammed the Quattro door shut and stalked her way up to her flat, that only a few days after they broke the news to everyone in Luigi's and the party had broken up so happily that it would all go to shit.

Gene followed her upstairs and opened the door, his emotions a mess. He watched as Alex stalked her way into the bedroom and through there, the bathroom, wrench open the medicine cabinet and fling a bottle of pills inside.

"Don't put 'em there," he said before he could stop himself. Alex span around.

"Why?" she asked.

"Just- just put them somewhere else," he replied. _Somewhere I can't find them_. He left the bedroom before he could see if Alex obeyed him or not.

A few seconds later Alex followed him into the living room. "I should keep them with me," she said, turning the bottle round in her hand, "I'm supposed to take them five times a day after all. How can I if they're locked up in here?"

Gene watched the bottle spin without blinking, until it became a blur of brown glass and white. He still knew what the label said.

CARDOXYMIDE

Not only did their baby have a congenital heart defect that would kill it in the unlikely event the pregnancy made it to full term, but the drug Alex would have to take in order to prevent such a calamity was the same one the League had nearly killed her and Gene over.

Alex watched Gene's sad eyes grip the bottle in her hand. She knew what he was thinking; she knew how scared he was.

"They don't discriminate, Gene," she said, putting the bottle down and Gene's eyes snapped up to meet hers, "The League will happily go for anyone, whether they have anything to do with the drug or not. I'm not in any more danger now than I was before."

"Excuse me if I'm not completely reassured," said Gene softly, "They know about you. You're the DCI of Fenchurch East where the drug was developed. They sent you letters. They kidnapped _me_. What if they come for you?"

"Shh," Alex whispered, putting a finger to his lips. "Stop panicking. There is such a thing called patient confidentiality. How could they possibly know anything about our baby?"

Gene kissed her gently and wrapped his arms around her, saying nothing.


	10. Liar

**I'm sorry for the delay in uploading this- Christmas, you know. Hope everybody enjoyed their holidays, and thank you, as ever, for your reviews!**

"You little bitch," hissed Ray, venom dripping from every syllable.

Shaz scowled back, not bothering to shoot a pleading expression at Chris. She could see from the corner of her eye the disgust in his expression.

"How can you even suggest such a thing?" Ray asked rhetorically and Shaz rolled her eyes.

"Because I saw it, you idiotic son of a-"

"How could you be sure it was Langley?" Chris interrupted.

"I've studied his mug-shot in the file for nearly a year," Shaz retorted, her fists clenched to stop her hands from shaking. "I'm telling you, I know what I saw."

"Tell the Ma'am then," said Chris.

"Maybe I will, she has a right to know!"

"Don't you fucking dare," Ray shouted, just as Alex entered CID.

"Ray!" Alex chastised. She didn't miss the warning look he shot Shaz and looked between them suspiciously. If they were hiding something from her, she would find out about it.

"Sorry Ma'am," said Ray sulkily before planting himself at his desk and reaching forward for a stack of files. He haphazardly flung them open and shut, without really reading anything. Alex frowned and looked to Shaz. Shaz avoided her eye and stared at her typewriter.

XXX

Chris was on the steps leading into the station waiting for Shaz when Alex managed to catch him alone.

"Hiya," she said, injecting as much friendliness as she could into her voice, "Cold today, isn't it?"

Chris smiled and muttered his agreement. Alex took the plunge.

"Is Shaz OK? Has Ray been giving her any sort of trouble?"

Chris face clouded over and Alex backtracked quickly.

"I'm just concerned that's all. Firstly, we all work together, so it's imperative we get along. Secondly, if any of you are unhappy for whatever reason, it- it bothers me."

"Why don't you ask Shaz yourself?" said Chris bitterly.

"Do you think I should?"

Chris realised to late what he had said. "No! No you definitely shouldn't!" he exclaimed and Alex raised her eyebrows.

"You tell me then."

Chris looked miserably at the steps. "I can't."

"Who are you protecting, Chris? Shaz or me?" Alex paused. "Or someone else?"

Chris said nothing, but he looked up, frantically searching around for Shaz so he could make his excuses and get the hell out of there. But Shaz was nowhere around.

By now, Alex had reached the end of her patience, so she used the last weapon in her arsenal, "DC Skelton, I am your superior officer. When I ask you a question, you answer it. I ask you now, why was Ray shouting at Shaz?"

So Chris told her. As he did so, tears flowed down his cheeks and froze against his skin. His voice shook and his eyes looked straight at Alex with an intensity that made her uncomfortable. Finally, he stopped talking and Alex knew he was waiting for some kind of acknowledgment that she believed him.

"You're a fucking liar, Christopher Skelton," said Alex harshly, "This is what Shaz thinks? Is that girl insane?"

"Ask her yourself," said Chris quietly and Alex looked over her shoulder to see Shaz descending the stairs towards them. She stopped, still fairly near the top when she saw Alex's face and half turned as though she wanted to run back inside. But Alex turned from her and ran down the stairs and across the road into her flat.

She hated Shaz. Hated her, and yet was frightened of her too.


	11. Langley

**Thanks for your reviews! I'm pleased to see that the last chapter left you nice and puzzled. This chapter should answer some of your questions and hopefully pose a few more...**

Alex lay frigid and stiff in bed all night. She dug the end of a paperclip into the tips of her fingers to keep herself awake and tried to make her breathing slow and steady. Next to her Gene slumbered peacefully, gentle snoring puncturing the warm silence of their bedroom.

Some hours later- though it felt like weeks to the sleep-deprived Alex, the snoring stopped and the weight distribution of the bed became messed up as Gene got up from his side of the bed. Alex closed her eyes as Gene padded round to her side and checked she was asleep. Not daring to open her eyes again, she listened to the rustling of Gene's clothes as he got dressed and left their bedroom.

As quickly and as quietly as she could, Alex got herself dressed in black leggings, a black shirt and the quietest shoes she owned, and crept downstairs. She pushed the street door open almost hoping that Gene had taken the Quattro and driven away so she couldn't follow him, but it was still there. And Gene was only a little way in this distance, walking the other direction to the station.

Alex followed him, hugging her arms close to herself as protection from the bitter wind that was biting at her skin. Dread too, was enveloping her as each step seemed to confirm Shaz story.

They came to a tunnel that Alex knew was the same one that Chris had met their snout in. It seemed empty, but Alex knew that as far as this tunnel was concerned, looks were deceiving. She buried herself in the shadows just as Gene glanced over his shoulder for the first time on his journey. Alex held her breath, but Gene didn't see her. She wondered fleetingly if she wanted to be discovered.

Gene's hiss carried through the tunnel like a snake. "Langley!"

There was no answer. Gene called again. "Langley!"

Then they emerged. The man Alex knew was Langley stepped from the other side of the tunnel, accompanied by the snout who was not looking happy. Alex felt a sudden rush of panic, did they see her? Did they see that Gene hadn't entered the tunnel alone? How long had they been there waiting?

"Hunt," said Langley, smiling, "Cigarette?"

Gene refused. The snout was not offered one. It seemed he was beneath Gene in the hierarchy of whatever the hell this was.

"My congratulations to you and your wife," Langley said, and was it Alex's imagination or did Gene just stiffen? "I hope the baby will be born healthy."

_Shit, they know,_ thought Alex. How could they? It didn't seem like Gene had told them.

"It will be," said Gene and Alex wondered if Langley knew about the Cardoxymide, "How did you know?"

"I have sources other than you, Hunt. I wonder if half of what I hear is even true so thank you for confirming it for me." He suddenly took a step towards Gene and whispered (though Alex could still just about hear him), "You haven't forgotten where your loyalties lie, have you Gene?"

"No sir," Gene replied and Alex felt a knife twist in her heart.

Langley took a drag from his cigarette and grinned, allowing the smoke to escape from between his teeth.

"Is that all, sir? That's why you dragged me out of bed?"

"Just to see if you would come, Gene," and Alex was shocked not to see Gene land a punch on Langley's solar plexus. She couldn't believe Gene would let someone talk to him like that.

"I needed to be sure you were still faithful to our cause. Sudden news- like DCI Hunt's pregnancy- can make a man change, Hunt. What if you had suddenly seen the light?" Langley let out a cackle that mixed with a rough smoker's voice, sounded like nails down a blackboard.

"You can depend on me, Sir."

"Actually, there is another reason," said Langley, his voice suddenly hard and his eyes narrow. He whipped round to face the snout, who threw his arms up over his face, as though this would protect him. "You recognise our friend, Gene?"

Gene hesitated and Langley turned back, suddenly all smiles, which frightened Alex more than if he was still angry.

"I'd like for you to tell me, Hunt," he commanded, with a note of authority in his voice. Alex was shocked that anyone could have authority over Gene, even the Super seemed to look up to him. She was even more surprised that Gene succumbed.

"He's a snout. He betrayed the details of Operation Untold Misery. I told you about him last time."

_Last time,_ Alex thought, trying not to be sick. That's when Shaz followed him.

"I know," said Langley, his smile widening, "In fact," he said, turning back to the snout, the smile sliding off his face as he did so, "There's only one reason why you're still alive. Unfortunately, it isn't good enough."

Langley reached into his coat pocket. The snout screamed aloud and started pleading for his life as Langley slowly aimed the gun at him. Alex knew she should cry out and intervene, but she couldn't. She was frozen as was Gene, apparently.

Langley held the gun in place for a few seconds, enjoying the wails of the snout, before, almost lazily, pulling the trigger and ending the snout's life. His knees buckled beneath him and he fell forward, his forehead slamming into the ground in front of him, bone splintering as it met concrete. Langley lowered his gun.

"You will stay loyal to me, Hunt," he hissed. "I know you will."

XXX

When Gene and Langley had left and the place was empty, Alex counted to a hundred before leaving her hiding place and running to the station as fast as her legs could carry her. She met no one on her way but she glanced up to her flat window as she passed Luigi's. There was no light on.

Her entering the station awoke the night-time desk sergeant and Alex asked him for the keys to the interview rooms. She stalked towards the room, making as much noise as possible and turning on all the lights as she went. She noticed an orange glow in the windows of CID but she didn't enter. Instead she unlocked the door to the interview room closest to CID and went inside.


	12. Crumble to Dust Part 2

**I haven't updated this story in… well, anyway. I had the chapters on a memory stick which I, rather intelligently, left at home when I returned to uni. I now have it back.**

**I haven't dedicated chapters before, but LionessOfTheQuattro sent me a message wondering what had happened to me & this fic. So this chapter is for her, I guess.**

Gene heard noises in the corridor outside and rushed out of CID. The lights were on and the night-time desk sergeant was peering at him through sleepy, confused eyes. Gene growled "get back to work" at him and tried the handle of the closest interview room.

The room was unlocked. The door swung open.

The main lights in the interview room were turned off and the only light came from an anglepoise lamp on the table in the middle of the room. At the table sat Alex Hunt, her elbows on the table and her chin gently resting on her hands. She wasn't supporting her head as though she was tired or upset, but like she was posing for some unseen artist. She didn't look up as Gene entered the room and the door gently clicked shut behind him.

"Where were you?" Gene demanded, "You can't just go swanning off in the middle of the night, Alex. You may think you're tougher than the steaks at Luigi's and maybe that's true but-"

"When did you realise I was missing?" Alex interrupted, her voice as neutral as one that had been computer synthesised.

"What?" said Gene, frowning, "I don't know. Ten, fifteen minutes ago maybe?"

"What were you doing when you realised I was gone?" said Alex, her voice losing its neutrality although she still didn't look at him. Gene wondered if his life would be worth living if he opened the door and ran.

"I was in the bathroom," he said, trying to make his voice sound even and truthful but Alex looked up at him scornfully, her expression made all the more frightening by shadows on her face cast by the light from the lamp across the contours of her skin.

"You weren't. You left and met Langley. The most senior name we have connected to the Animal League. I followed you, Gene."

"I was fishing for information. I was pretending-"

"Bollocks," said Alex, but she wasn't angry. She sounded more sorrowful than anything and Gene studied her face, every crease of her eyebrows and every degree of the curve of her mouth trying to read her. "If that was true, why keep it a secret?" She paused. "Someone is dead because of you."

"Not because of me," said Gene and Alex closed her eyes slowly, how _dare_ he protest his innocence? How dare he deny responsibility? "He isn't. Langley knew he was a traitor, I didn't have to say anything."

"What was all that about 'last time' then? Someone followed you then, someone heard you betray the snout then. You could have told us Langley had made contact, we'd have followed you as back up and arrested the bastard."

Gene had nothing to say. No clever comebacks, no way that he could pull rank on her since she was a DCI and he didn't even work for the Met any more. He could only stand in silence and feel her fury and disappointment wash over him.

"The thing is, Gene," she said, "I should have known. This is a possibility that I should have been ready for and been preparing ourselves for. I just thought you were stronger than that, that's all." Gene felt as though he had been winded.

"I don't understand-"

"No," said Alex bitterly, "you don't, do you? If you knew what was happening to you, you would prevent it."

"What is happening to me?" Gene said, not quite sure if he was impatient or scared.

"Stockholm syndrome," said Alex, getting up. "You weren't starved, you weren't abused, you told me yourself that they treated you well. Your life is in danger only if you don't conform to what they believe. And I'm sure they talked to you, were nice to you, asked your opinions on things. And then they told you some of theirs. Maybe they showed you Dr. Burntwood's video, I don't know. All I know is you swallowed their propaganda and when they knew that you belonged to them and not me, that it was time to release you. You were safe to some back to me."

Her voice broke on the last word and Gene wanted more than anything to walk up to her and just hold her in his arms. He didn't move. He knew it was the wrong thing to do.

"I'm right aren't I?" said Alex. She was standing in front of the lamp now and she looked like some kind of heavenly being with the light behind her. "Aren't I? This is why they took you in the first place and why they let you go when they did. The only reason you came back to me is because they let you."

"No," said Gene with such conviction that Alex almost believed him, "I came back to you because I love you."

"What, and you just walked out? They were keeping you prisoner and you just jumped on a bus?"

"It was my idea to leave!"

"No it wasn't!" Alex shouted back, "You can't keep your story straight! You told me, one minute you were there, next minute you were a few streets from the lock-up. They need a spy in CID and there you were, all ready and nicely brainwashed."

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"I do though. I heard you tonight, telling Langley everything we know, swearing loyalty to him and betraying the snout. Another officer followed you on another night, so I have that person's testimony. You believe in their cause as well, I know you do."

Alex stopped talking and there was a silence. Secretly, Alex wanted to be wrong. She wanted Gene to turn around and explain everything that just happened in such a way that he couldn't possibly be the bad guy, that he was the lion they all looked up to and rallied around. But he didn't because he couldn't. His silver eyes pleaded with her through the darkness of the room but there was no substance. There was no reason to forgive.

"Cardoxymide," Alex whispered and she saw Gene hold himself very still.

"What about it?"

"I'm on it. You know I am."

"Your point?" Gene said, his voice shaking.

"Would you kill me for it?"

Gene shook his head. He opened his mouth, the shut it again and squeezed his eyes tight.

"Of course you would," said Alex through barely suppressed tears, "You've already helped plan this untold misery. You may have planned other terrorist attacks. You won't tell us anything you know but you'll give our secrets to them. And you would have me killed for going against the League's dogma."

Gene reached forward and touched her hair saying, "Bolly."

"Tell me to keep taking it," said Alex, "Tell me that the lives of all those animals, the screams and distress caused by those scientists are worth it if it means a healthy baby."

And for a moment, she saw it reflected in his eyes: the trauma, the pain of poor, defenceless creatures, the pictures he ran through in his mind, every day, to justify his betrayal of her.

She felt the hand that was in her hair involuntarily clench into a fist and she moved her head away from him. His fist stayed where it was, the knuckles turning white and glowing in the light from the anglepoise.

"You don't understand…" Gene whispered.

She opened the door and the sound of it must have brought Gene to his senses since he dropped his hand and span around to face her.

"Don't follow me home," said Alex, her voice hard. "Don't stay here either; sleep in the Quattro or something."

As she walked through the doorway, she heard Gene's voice.

"Bolly-"

"Don't call me that," she said. The door slammed shut behind her and she ran home as fast as her legs would carry her, her heart feeling as though it was crumbling to dust all the way.


	13. Gene's Eyes and Alex's Laugh

**I used to have exams. I don't anymore! Thank you for your reviews, and I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

Alex couldn't concentrate. The squiggles on the whiteboard all merged into one blob of colour and then a white space, until she blinked her eyes and the world righted itself again. She had barely spoken all day, except to tell Shaz that she was right, that Gene had been meeting with Langley. She blushed as she confessed this, hating Gene for making her apologise to Shaz on top of everything else.

Scattered around the various desk of CID were files on staff employed at the Oliver Wilson Maternity Unit. Only two had been working there less than five years, a receptionist who had started last week and a junior doctor whose first day was two days before the League had promised 'untold misery'. Further research had revealed no links to League from either of them so Alex had developed a plan. The junior doctor had been visited and had been persuaded to stay at home for the first few days of his job. He would be replaced by Chris (of all people, Alex had sighed to herself). Shaz would replace the receptionist and Alex would be 'conveniently' on site as a pregnant woman. Ray would be in charge of backup outside the Unit. He wasn't too happy about being what he called 'far from the action' but as Alex pointed out, the League probably knew their faces. Shaz and Chris would have to be heavily disguised as would she.

Ray had had misgivings about the plan that apparently had nothing to do with the role he had been given. "I mean, there could be all that rubella in the air. Are you sure it's safe for you?"

Alex had rolled her eyes and said, with more impatience than Ray deserved, "Well, we'll get them before they set it off, won't we? If there is rubella around, then I'm not the only one in trouble am I? For God's sake, Ray, there'll be loads of other people, pregnant women amongst them."

"Why don't we tell them?" asked Chris in a small voice, scared that Alex would blow up at him. She did.

"What, and have the League carry out their threat a day early? Or give in to them? I don't think so Skelton."

"What's changed in you, Ma'am?" asked Ray moodily, ignoring Chris's look of horror, "You wouldn't see a sick snout before 'cos you were pregnant. Now you're about to go waltzing into the middle of a terrorist attack? It's not right."

"When I want your opinion, DI Carling, I'll ask for it!" Alex snapped. Ray still didn't drop it.

"It's the Guv, isn't it? You believe Shaz an' what she said."

"Yeah, I do."

There was a finality in Alex's voice that scared Ray. He looked at her in shock, but she didn't look back, choosing instead to stare at the scribbled whiteboard. Ray felt his body go cold and his hands shake.

Alex heard a click of a receiver as it was replaced on the body of the telephone. She felt rather that heard a small voice say, "Ma'am?" and replied automatically with, "What is it Shaz?"

"It's about DCI Hunt."

Alex whipped round. "_I'm_ DCI Hunt!" she said sharply.

"I know Ma'am, I mean the other- the Guv. It was DCI Matthews from Fenchurch West CID. They found an abandoned car by the river."

"So?" said Alex, trying to pretend that the hairs on the back of her neck weren't standing up on end.

"It was a red Audi Quattro. Ma'am, it was his car!"

"And Gene?"

"No sign of him Ma'am," said Shaz miserably, "The car was locked and the only prints in it are yours and the Guv's.

Alex didn't answer, she simply turned back to the whiteboard, her jaw set firmly and her eyes steely. She refused to feel any emotion about what had just happened. She had lost Gene once and survived. She was becoming less and less sure that she could do it again.

XXX

Alex scrubbed at the dirty plates in her sink as though she could bore right through the china if only she would put her back into it. She hissed from pain when the hot water splashed onto her bare hands and she wiped them dry on her Genes- jeans!- before continuing.

As she placed a damp frying pan on the draining board and closed the taps, she heard a rattling sound coming from her front door. Calmly, she dried her hands on a tea towel and folded it, along with her arms.

From around the corner, she heard the door open, unlock and swing shut in an unmistakable way. Alex leaned against the kitchen work surface and narrowed her eyes in angry anticipation.

Gene Hunt turned round the corner into her kitchen and stood stock still as he caught sight of her. He looked thinner, his face was greyer and his hair was unwashed. He looked the saddest she had ever seen him and to her surprise, she found that this worried her. She knew what this was all though she was refusing to admit it: a throwback to the days when he was in charge and she was DI Drake or DI Hunt and the whole station looked up to him and based their emotions on his moods. If he was happy they were happy. If his was angry, they were still happy, because that was normal for Gene. But if he was quiet and melancholy…

"Alex," Gene breathed.

"I didn't say you could come back," said Alex, louder than she intended. She was trying to drown out the beating of her heart which had got louder and faster at the sound of Gene's voice.

"Alex, I want you to listen to me."

Alex threw her head back and laughed at him. The laugh was scornful and humourless and the pain in each peal echoed off the hard walls of the flat they used to share. She hated hating him and Gene, for his part, missed her real laugh, the sudden switch between a mildly happy face and smile of dazzling teeth and giggles. He used to be able to get her to laugh like that.

"What, do you think you can waltz back in here and everything will revert to the status quo? That I'll let you back into my life, back into my bed just because you bat your pretty sliver-green eyes and say please?"

"My eyes are not pretty," Gene growled before he could stop himself and Alex had to smother a laugh- a genuine one this time.

Instead she slowly unfolded her arms and lay her hands over her belly. She looked down at her hands, seemingly ignoring Gene, all though there was a stillness about her that told Gene she was hypersensitive to his every move, even if she wasn't looking at him.

Gene studied her for a minute, squinting past her fingers, trying to work out if her belly was swelling yet or if it was his imagination. The sallow pallor of her skin concerned him, wasn't she supposed to be glowing? Instead she seemed tired and constantly close to tears. It was killing him that the reason for all of that was him.

Slowly, so as not to startle her, he approached her. She didn't look up or move or back away. Not a finger twitched, but as he extended his hand to- he didn't know what, touch her in some way, hold her maybe, her head jerked up and her fingers closed around his wrist.

"Oi!" Gene exclaimed and tried to wrench himself free but Alex's hold was like a vice, "You're hurting me."

Alex didn't reply but reached round behind her for something on the draining board. When she brought it round, Gene felt his blood freeze.

It was a large knife, the blade still glistening with moisture and tiny soap bubbles. Gene twisted his arm again but it was no good. He closed his eyes as Alex would surely any second now plunge the knife into him…

But she didn't. Instead, he felt the plastic handle forced against his palm and her cool fingers wrapping his around the handle. He opened his eyes and she wrapped her other arm around him, bringing him closer to her. She forced the hand that held his hand with the knife into such a position that the blade was against her neck.

"Do it," she whispered.

Gene didn't move, didn't say anything. He was frozen and the most terrified he had ever been in his life.

"You were prepared to do this before," she whispered, "You joined the League, you swallowed their dogma. You betrayed me professionally and personally. By believing what they believe, you want me and our baby dead. But why should you do it so impersonally with a few bacteria in a bomb? Do it properly. My jugular is just here. Slice it and kill us both."

Alex dropped her hand to let Gene make his decision.

The blade stayed against her skin.


	14. Cold Metal

**Thank you for your reviews! I'm being lazy with updates, I know but I can change, I promise! Enjoy…**

"Slice it and kill us both."

Gene felt Alex release her hand but he was barley aware of it. He was marvelling instead at her choice of words:_ both_. He knew Alex had meant her and the baby but he thought about it differently. The baby hadn't been factored into the equation, on the day he found out he would be a father he had lied to Alex and pretended that the snout they met was a stranger to him. He didn't feel worthy of a titled as grand as Father. So when Alex said "kill us both", he heard something else. He heard Alex and himself.

The simple fact of the matter was, if Alex died, so did he. Nothing else mattered, not animal ethics, not bioterrorism, nothing. Only Alex.

Alex felt the cold metal of the knife leave her neck and heard the clatter of the knife as it hit the floor. Gene moved away from her and immediately her body cried out for his warmth again.

"What the hell, Drake!" Gene cried before quickly correcting himself. To his surprise, Alex's lips curled up into a beautiful smile that reached her eyes.

"It's you," Alex said softly.

"Who did you think I was, Maggie Thatcher?" Gene grunted and Alex's silvery laughter filled the room like expensive champagne flowing into a flute. Like Bollinger Gene thought, smiling to himself.

"No," said Alex, "But you weren't _my_ Gene."

"I'm not anybody's Gene," he replied, mentally adding _except yours_. All though there was no way could know this, Alex heard it, even though she didn't know how either.

"But you were theirs," said Alex seriously and Gene looked away, ashamed, "they owned you and corrupted you. Now you're not. You weren't prepared to kill me or the baby. You are your own man Gene. You're free of them and free of Stockholm Syndrome."

"As simple as that?"

Alex hesitated and Gene looked back, nervous. "If I am any danger to you Alex, tell me now, and I'll walk away. I'll leave you and the baby in peace. I don't want you or the baby to pay for my mistakes."

Alex smiled. "You are aware of the problem. That's the first step, acquiring insight. From now on, you need to question your motives for everything and trace them back to either them or us."

Gene moved towards Alex and her body cried out in celebration as it took his warmth again. "How did you know I wasn't going to kill you? I could have done. I could have still been brainwashed and you couldn't have escaped."

"I didn't know if it would work," said Alex quietly, "I didn't know if you would kill me or not. All I know is that when I thought you were dead, it felt like I was too. That was the worst part of my life, Gene, and I was so thankful when you came back to me. Only you didn't, did you?"

"Bolls, I'm s-"

"It's ok. But I decided that if you really had joined them and left me, then I wouldn't be able to live without you. If you killed me after all then-"

Gene couldn't wait any longer. He pressed his lips to Alex's and she accepted his kiss hungrily, having been denied the real him for so long. She felt his hands glide up her body and his fingers twist in her hair. His warm breath exhaled into her mouth and on her lips as he whispered her name over and over again. She wasn't quiet either, moaning "Gene," repeatedly until he tucked his arm under her legs and carried her into the bedroom…

XXX

Alex lay on the bed, a loose sheet wrapped around her and damp locks of hair clung to her forehead. Her eyes drifted between open and closed as sleep threatened to overcome her but she didn't want to go to sleep, just in case none of this was real.

"Alex, I have to tell you something."

Alex was suddenly wide awake, all thoughts of sleep forgotten as she tried to quell her sudden surge of panic.

"This untold misery…"

Alex sat up slowly, keeping the sheet around her. Gene tried not to think about how well the white of the sheet went with her skin.

"They lied to you about it. It isn't at the Maternity Unit. It's at Greater Fenchurch Hospital."

"But it can't be," Alex said, "We had a snout, he told us…"

Her voice trailed away and realisation dawned on her. "They knew about him of course they did! You told Langley about him _before _Chris made contact, so he told the snout to feed us crap in order to save his own life, but Langley killed him anyway! They've been feeding us wrong intelligence." Her eyes flashed furiously at Gene. "They really had every fucking base covered, didn't they? Brainwash you, manipulate the snout…"

Gene tentatively put an arm around her and when she didn't push him away, he rubbed her arm comfortingly.

"So when is it going to be?" said Alex, her voice hard. "This rubella attack, or is that a lie as well?"

"No, that's true. Everything else they told you was right, the day, the method, everything. They just wanted you at the wrong place at the right time."

"Unless this is a lie," said Alex slowly and Gene snatched his arm away as though it had been burnt.

"I suppose I deserved that," Gene muttered, heaving himself off the bed and running his hands through his still-dirty hair.

"I'm not suggesting you're lying to me deliberately," she said soothingly, "But how do you know the truth? The League are lying bastards, I don't know what to believe any more when it comes to them."

"They thought I was loyal to them," said Gene bitterly, "I'm not underestimating them, Bolls, but the League can't account for everything. They couldn't account for you."

Alex paused then said carefully, "Why did you come back from the dead when you did?"

"Because they let me," said Gene bluntly and Alex leant back against the headboard, satisfied that he had told the truth, "I didn't try too hard to escape, but you know the reason for that."

"How did your car come to be abandoned?"

"I like how you ask me all the important questions only _after_ sex," Gene sighed, flopping down on the bed. Alex laughed and said something about priorities.

"They were following me. They aren't now," he said quickly as he saw Alex's alarmed expression, "Hence the abandoned Quattro. A beautiful red car like that is easy to spot."

"Do they know you're here?" Alex asked, not all together comforted.

"No they bloody don't," Gene said, "When I lose a tail, Bolls, I do it properly."

"If you say so," said Alex, teasingly. She changed the subject. "I haven't factored you into the plan."

Gene knew straight away what she was talking about. "I could replace you if you like. Shouldn't you be on some form of leave? Or giving up work? Can't be healthy, you gallivanting all over the place with a shrimp in your gut."

Alex rolled her eyes at his old-fashioned views. "We'll talk about whether I'll carry on working or not later. And no you can't replace me. I'm going undercover as a patient. I'm sure your acting skills are exemplary, Gene, but even Olivier would struggle to fool health professionals into believing he was a pregnant woman."

"Gary Cooper wouldn't though," Gene replied, "But you're not going to be actually in the building, are you?"

Alex set her jaw firmly. "Yes I am, Gene."

"No."

"What do you mean?"

"It's too dangerous."

"You can't tell me what to do! In fact, my role is the only role that'll transfer over now that we know the attack is going to happen somewhere else. Shaz and Chris were going to replace people working at the Maternity Unit."

"Alex," said Gene desperately, clutching Alex on her upper arms, "Please, think about what you're doing. You can't endanger the baby's life. You're not angry at me anymore, remember?"

"No," Alex hissed, "But I'm angry at _them._"

Gene let go of Alex, at a loss of how to reason with her.

"I'm going to bring them down, Gene."


	15. Shaz

Chris quickly glanced to his left and right and quietly knocked on the door. There was no answer so he knocked again.

"Shaz? Shaz, are you alright?" Shaz didn't reply but Chris thought he could hear someone sniffing. "Shaz, you know I can't go in there. Will you come out? Please?"

There was only silence. Chris stepped back from the door and sighed. Ordinarily, he would ask the Ma'am to have a word with Shaz, even if she wasn't hiding in the Ladies, but he wasn't sure how sympathetic she would be. Ray was on the side of the Ma'am and thought that the Guv could be forgiven. He hadn't been himself, Ray argued, and therefore technically had done nothing wrong. Chris was uneasy with this point of view but hadn't disagreed with it as dramatically as Shaz had done. When Alex had explained about the Stockholm Syndrome and so on, Shaz had stood up and said,

"So that's it? The Guv betrays us and you say it's all right because he wasn't himself at the time?"

"Is there a problem, Shaz?"

"Yeah, there is actually!" Shaz had shouted, her hands balling up into fists, "You were broken when he left, we all were, but you especially. There were days when I genuinely didn't know if I would see you at work of if we'd hear word that you had died too or what. All I knew was that Hunt wasn't coming back."

Alex watched Shaz, fascinated as she paused for breath. She was aware that she should stop Shaz, but she wasn't able to.

"But he did! After all of that grieving, all that worry about you, he came back and he wasn't dead after all! I hated him then but you were so happy, I tried to stop. After all, it wasn't his fault that he left and_ he tried so hard to get back to you."_ Shaz spat the last few words at Alex who flinched as though they had caused her physical pain.

"He couldn't- they were controlling him-" Alex protested feebly but Shaz just laughed, horrible sobbing laughs that were choked by the tears leaking from her eyes.

"You don't get it, do you? They weren't abusing him, he could have left. He could have chosen to not believe them and to return to our side, but he didn't."

"He did return to our side!" Alex shouted, no longer feeble, her own fist clenched and with patches of colour burning on her cheeks.

"It's too late!" Shaz screamed, her high voice so loud that it echoed off the hard walls of the CID office. There was silence for a few seconds until it was broken by heavy footsteps. With a pang of nausea, Shaz saw that the footsteps belonged to Gene Hunt himself emerging from the kitchen, where he had obviously heard every word.

Shaz stood her ground, lifted her chin, and looked Gene straight in the eye, trying not to shake.

"I'm not going to take back what I said just because you heard me," she said.

"I'd lose all respect for you if you did," he replied.

Shaz scoffed. "What respect? The respect of a tea girl? You were prepared to endanger my life! All of our lives, the lives of the people on the street that you're supposed to protect-"

"Enough," Gene said, and there was a finality in his voice that shut her up. "Shaz, I'm sorry you feel that way and I know I deserve it. But it's different now. I let you all down, it's not going to happen again."

Gene looked at Shaz and she stared back, knowing he was waiting for her to reply. He didn't want forgiveness, not yet, just a promise of the possibility of forgiveness in the future. She considered.

"No."

"Shaz!" Alex exclaimed.

Shaz turned on her, because it was somehow easier to hurt her than to attack the Guv. "I'm not falling for this shit! You can be stupid enough to take it if you want, but I won't!"

"Granger, that is your-" Gene began, but by this time, Shaz had found the self-righteous anger she needed to attack him again.

"Superior officer, I know! Just like you are, I suppose? I've had enough of this. If you want me to resign, I'll be more than happy to oblige."

She stormed out, leaving her colleagues dazed and emotionally injured. Alex gave Gene a look that said, "office, now". He understood, and they went in, not speaking to Ray or Chris, who looked at each other in shock.

"Part of me wants to call her a bitch for the things she said, the other half thinks she's right," Gene sighed, his eyes drawn to his 'obituaries'. He turned away, feeling wretched.

"She isn't, but her feelings are understandable," said Alex, "She's hurt and confused so she'd lashing out."

"You didn't scream or shout. I'm not saying what you did wasn't worse, but you held your temper."

"I am older and wiser than Shaz," said Alex wearily, and Gene saw how this was true in the lines around her eyes and how her mouth drooped down, not up. "I know where the base of my anger is from and I know enough psychology to know not to blame you for what has happened to you. Because that what Stockholm Syndrome is, it isn't something you are or something you get, it's something that happens to you, an event in your life. You can, and must, move on from it."

"Am I your husband or your patient, Alex?" said Gene quietly.

Alex didn't falter in her answer, "You are both. I hope to God that one day that isn't the case but for now, I need to understand you and be able to predict you."

"You're like Shaz," Gene said, "You don't trust me either."


	16. Play Along

**Sorry for the delay! We're reaching the end of the story… and ending I haven't written yet :s I know what happens at the end, I just need to actually write it. In the meantime, please enjoy this.**

Alex tucked her long blonde hair behind her ear and glanced nervously at a bag on the floor. The bag was huge, designed to hold all the items a busy mother could need, but was expensive. Could there be a biological weapon in it?

Alex was sitting on her own in the cold, bright waiting room of Fenchurch General Hospital with a blonde wig acting as a disguise. Shaz had turned up for work that morning with a defiant look in her eyes, but said nothing. She and Alex had seemed to come to some unspoken understanding to agree to disagree. Shaz had taken over Ray's old job of manning the communications in a small van just outside.

Gene, Ray and Chris were in the same van, listening intently to the speaker that was transmitting sound picked up from the wire under Alex's dress, ready to storm the hospital if she needed them. Alex was trying not to think about what the atmosphere must have been like in the van, given what Shaz had said about Gene the other day.

Suddenly, Alex stood up. Smiling as broadly as she could, she approached the bored looking receptionist.

"Excuse me-"

"The doctor's running fifteen minutes late," said the receptionist, not looking up from her nails, which she was filing. "You appointment's wasn't until two anyway, Mrs. Er-"

"Cameron," said Alex brightly, though she felt like snatching the nail file away from the receptionist and poking her in the eye with it. "And that wasn't what I was going to ask, I was wondering where the bathroom was?"

"Oh," said the receptionist, and looked at Alex for the first time, for slightly longer than was polite. Alex wondered nervously if her hair was obviously a wig, but the receptionist didn't say anything.

"Go through those doors and turn left. It's through the second set of doors on your right."

Alex smiled her thanks and followed the directions. Sure enough, she found herself in the Ladies, as brightly lit as the waiting room. She quickly turned her face away from the mirrors to avoid seeing a yellow face covered in, what now appeared to be, ghastly clown make-up. Stupid bathroom lighting.

After checking the stalls (they were all empty), Alex said softly, hoping it would be picked up by the wire, "Don't worry, you aren't going to listen to me piss. I'm just exploring. I'll let you know what I find."

She waited a few moments before quickly turning the water on at the sinks as another woman came in. They briefly smiled at each other before she went into a stall and Alex dried her hands and left.

As Alex walked down the corridor and through doors, she kept her eyes open for anything that might look as though it could contain a bomb. Bins, laundry baskets, anything, but there was nothing. The corridors were deserted of everyone except people.

But what was this? A narrow, unmarked door in the wall that seemed to lead to a janitor's closet. Alex tried the door, but it was locked. There was something strange about it, but she couldn't work out what it was. What had caught her eye?

She paced up and down in front of it, frowning slightly before approaching it again and running her finger down the gap in between the wall and the door, where the hinges were. Each time she passed this gap, a flash of light would catch her eye. As she peered, Alex could see a shiny silver material had been plastered over the crack. Foil.

Alex quickly whispered what she had found, but just as she was giving the location of the door, a harsh Manchester voice echoed its way down the corridor towards her.

"Mrs. Cameron?"

Alex whipped her head round quickly as a shock of fear grasped her.

It was Langley, in a white doctor's coat and a stethoscope draped around his neck. Through the chest of the coat, she could see the unmistakable bulge of a gun. He didn't take it out, but Alex knew he didn't need to. If she move inappropriately, if she made any sound, he would whip out the gun and shoot her before she had time to even think about reaching for hers.

Langley smiled in a way that would be considered kind on the face of anyone that wasn't a terrorist as he walked slowly towards Alex. His thin, cold fingers gripped the hem of her blouse and he lifted it up in one swift movement to reveal the wire she wore underneath.

The smile on his lips curled upwards on one side as he let the blouse fall. Alex suddenly understood the fake Manchester accent and his acceptance of her alias. He knew she was wearing a wire and that everything she heard was being listened to by someone else. He didn't want to be recognised, not yet. He had a game to play and Alex, if she wanted to stay alive, would have to play along.


	17. Mask

"Mrs. Cameron, if you'd like to come with me? End of this corridor, turn left and the fourth one on the right after the double doors. Don't worry I'll be right behind you."

Alex swallowed hard as walked slowly through the doors and back into the maternity section of the hospital. She didn't dare say anything and the codeword- Battersea- suddenly seemed ridiculous. If she said it right out, Langley would recognise it as a codeword, shoot her and leg it. She could drop it into an innocent-sounding sentence but the best she could come up with was "Ever been to Battersea?" which sounded obvious. Besides, she didn't want the others bursting in too soon. She needed to find out where the bomb would be.

As Alex approached the fourth door on the right, Langley, who had been following her at close quarters, suddenly gripped her arm and pushed her up the corridor a bit, through the fifth door on the left. The door slammed shut behind him and Alex hissed in pain as she massaged her arm. She knew what he had done, if the others were to follow the directions picked up by her wire, they wouldn't find her in the room they thought they would.

In the doctor's room were three men, all dressed in black wearing gas masks. Alex shuddered as they peered expressionlessly at her. On the desk in the middle of the room was a bag that seemed to be wriggling next to a fourth gas mask. Alex doubted it was for her.

"So, Mrs. Cameron, how are you feeling today?" Langley asked jovially. "Baby giving you any trouble? Are you still taking the drugs prescribed to you?"

_Come on now, work it out! _Alex implored silently to the people at the other end of the wire. _He just alluded to Cardoxymide, that's a clue surely! He wants to kill me because of it!_

But, Alex realised with a sinking heart, they wouldn't. It was perfectly normal for a doctor to ask about the drugs he had prescribed to his patient. There was nothing suspicious about Langley at all.

Langley nodded at the men and they pushed her into a chair so violently that she nearly shrieked out loud. Only the sudden pressure of a gun barrel against her head kept her quiet. Her arms were forced against the sides of her body and a rope was secured tightly around her. Her wig was ripped from her head and thrown into a corner of the room.

Langley completely ignored her, instead standing on the desk and stroking the ceiling. He frowned then gently pushed up. A ceiling tile lifted up to show a space above the ceiling. Langley looked down, grinned at Alex then looked away. Alex followed the direction of his gaze to the wall where a ventilator was embedded into the wall near the ceiling. She suddenly felt sick. So that's how they were going to do it.

The door behind Alex opened and she knew, by the way that Langley put a finger to his lips but widened his eyes excitedly, that the person who had entered was not someone on her side. As they moved forward, she saw that she was right. It was a man, dressed similarly to the others, carrying a gas mask and a canister of some sort.

Langley held out his hands eagerly, like a parent for their child. Alex knew this canister had come from behind the door she had seen earlier. The foil had been to keep the room cool and preserve the contents of the canister.

Rubella.

Langley set the canister lovingly down on the desk and fitted the gas mask round his head. The others followed in a staggered form so that there was always a gun pointed at Alex's head. She wasn't sure why they were bothering. It wasn't like she could do anything, she couldn't get free and nobody was coming. She shut her eyes and thought of all the unborn children in the building that were about to be put in danger, including her own.

One of the other men stood on the desk and heaved the canister into the hole in the ceiling. Alex heard a gentle thud as he set it down on top of the ceiling.

Then, all hell broke loose.

Alex wasn't entirely sure what had happened at the time. Her senses seemed to be working independently of each other and reporting to her brain information that didn't make sense. She tried to piece it together, the psychologist in her kicking in, analysing her surroundings.

The man on the desk collapsed, clutching his leg and a bang. All though maybe the bang had come first.

Alex craned her neck around until the doorway was in her peripheral vision. They were there. A bit blurry but there, all four of them. Chris ran forward, as though to jump on the table, but found himself knocked sideways by one of Langley's men. His head collided with the floor and he passed out. Both Ray and Shaz found themselves overpowered. Shaz glanced up at the hole above the desk. Was the canister open?

Whilst all this was happening, Gene turned to face Alex and stopped, spinning the gun around so the barrel pointed past her.

Langley was too quick for him. A bang echoed around the room and Alex screamed. Gene dropped the gun as though it had caught fire. Alex struggled against the ropes until she felt the barrel of Langley's gun nuzzle, not against her head, but against her belly. Against her baby.

Gene miraculously was still standing, unhurt, but unarmed. Langley hadn't intended to kill Gene, just disarm him.

"I thought the League didn't use weapons," said Gene so menacingly that everyone in the room flinched except Langley.

"Bullets have their uses, Hunt. You should know."

"Nope. You are currently making about as much sense as Mrs. Fruitcake over there, even when her baby hormones are all over the shop."

"Then I'll enlighten you," whispered Langley. Alex shivered as she felt his breath on the back of her neck as he addressed her. "Your darling husband, the father of that little bundle of joy you're carrying- did you never wonder how he got away? Why we let him leave us?"

"Shut up, Langley," Gene growled. Alex felt alarmed. She did know, what was going on? Was there more?

"He came over to our side, darling," Langley purred, drawing circles on her abdomen with his gun. "One of the most respected officers in London- even if he is a dinosaur- has been working for us, spying for us. We always knew exactly how much of the case you had cracked- which was not much, was it?"

"Alex, please, it's not true!" Gene pleaded.

Suddenly, Alex understood. The Gene Genie did not plead, not ever. Not when she confronted him about Langley. Not when he came to her flat after- he insisted that she listen to him, more than anything else. He didn't beg her forgiveness. He didn't even beg the rest of CID to forgive him when they found out. So, his pleading now was not something she saw in him, ever.

He was faking. The only reason Gene was still alive was because Langley believed the Stockholm Syndrome was still in effect. As soon as he realised that Gene was as loyal to him as a mouse was to a cat with a knife and fork, Gene would find himself going the same way as the snout.

"The snout that was found shot, we knew about him from Hunt. Shooting him was a pleasure, maybe we _should_ use guns more often."

"You're lying, Langley," Alex whispered. Gene didn't visibly relax, but Alex knew she was playing her part correctly.

"I assure you, I'm not." Alex resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Fine, Gene was now safe, but how the hell were they going to get out of this? And the rubella…

Langley considered this, his tongue running slowly over his teeth, "You know."

Alex felt her heart stop beating. She didn't realise Langley had moved so he could watch her face carefully, so when she shot a panicked expression at Gene, he noticed.

He lost it. Instead of shooting her, Langley used the gun to whack Alex's jaw. The force of it made her gasp and her eyes water.

Gene roared and sprang forward, his hand enclosing Langley's throat, slamming him to the ground. Langley ripped Gene's hand away, but struggled to get away from Gene's massive form.

"Big mistake, Langley," Gene growled furiously.

Langley screamed, his eyes rolling into his head. Alex wanted to tell Gene to get off him, Langley had lost his mind. But she couldn't be sure that this wasn't an act.

"You went back to her!" he yelled. "I thought you were playing us both but you weren't were you? You abandoned that stupid car and told your wife everything."

"More or less," Gene snarled, pressing his hand into Langley's throat until he gagged. Alex glanced nervously at the ceiling then down at the desk. That bag- why was it wriggling?

Langley eased a hand free and ripped Gene's hand away from his throat and gulped air into his starved lungs. "You're fickle, Gene. Going from one side to the other- I suppose your wife _cured_ you of your psychological illness?" the way he sneered the word _cured_ stilled Alex's heart.

"You see, I'm not entirely sure that's possible," Langley continued softly, "I don't think it's that possible to forget what you've seen."

"Gene, arrest him!" Alex cried, frightened. But Gene didn't hear her. He had relaxed his hold on Langley and his eyes seemed far away.

"Alex Hunt, a living, breathing, sentient being. A foul bitch that justifies her existence based on the unspeakable cruelty to those without a voice."

Alex looked back at the bag. It was moving faster now and she could he noised coming from it, a harsh scratching sound. What the hell was inside?

"You saw the recordings. You heard the testimony. You heard the screams and cries of innocent animals subjected to barbaric testing and you know, deep down Hunt, that Stockholm syndrome has nothing to do with it. The woman who calls herself your wife is feeding you lies and misleading you so that she can take Cardoxymide without you stopping her. She is contributing to the torture of creation."

"Gene, don't listen to him. His logic is flawed-"

Langley cut across her. "You know only the League speaks the truth."

As if on cue, the contents of the bag on the desk revealed itself. Through a small hole that it had made in the canvass of the bag, a small, perfectly white kitten poked its head. It seemed to have been recovering from being mistreated: its fur, though glossy in places, had bald patches, there was a scratch down the middle of its nose and it was the skinniest creature Gene had ever seen. It was clearly a cat that had been rescued from torture.

"Do you remember this cat from the videos, Gene?" Langley whispered. "Do you remember looking after it during your stay with us? It's still too traumatised to meow."

"And yet you risked its life and wellbeing by bringing it somewhere you were planning to release rubella?"

Alex felt as though she had been kicked in the stomach. What about her? She was there too, was the cat really more important than she was?

"We are not higher beings than cats, Gene. We are all living creatures with the ability to feel pain. All animals are equal, none should have authority over another."

"I can think of one animal that is higher than all others," Gene said. Alex, for the first time since Gene had entered the room, dared to hope.

"Oh?" said Langley, disbelievingly. "And what animal is that?"

"The shrimp."

Alex face broke into a wide grin that Gene saw and returned, before turning his attention back to Langley.

"Stephen Langley, I am arresting you for bioterrorism, attempted murder, blah, blah, et cetera," Gene said, forcing cuffs around Langley's wrists. "You would be wise to call your little minions off my officers so they can be arrested and all. Face it, you've lost."

Langley growled. Ray pushed his assailant away from him and he looked to Langley as though for instructions. When Langley ignored him, the assailant held his arms out to be cuffed. Shaz ran towards Chris who was slowly coming round. Gene hurried to Alex, untied her, and threw his arms around her.

"The canister-" she began.

Ray leapt on the desk and poked his head through the hole in the ceiling. "It's switched off."

"Are you sure?" Gene asked through Alex's hair.

"Definitely."

Gene lifted his face from Alex's hair and gently ran a hand over her belly.

"The highest being in this room," Gene whispered so quietly that only Alex heard him, "The shrimp in your gut."

"Don't let any pro-choicers hear you say that," Alex muttered and Gene cracked a small smile, still gazing at her for a moment.

Then he looked down confused. Alex followed his eyeline and saw that the kitten had jumped off the desk and was rubbing its face against Gene's ankle.

"I think it likes you," said Alex.

"Well, the cat's really out of the bag now," said Gene.

Alex rolled her eyes.


End file.
